Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has filed a new petition, asking the Delhi High Court to order the Enforcement Directorate not to take "coercive action" against him in response to the probe agency's summonses issued in the Delhi excise policy case. He also demanded assurances from the Enforcement Directorate that he would not be arrested if he followed the multiple summonses.
Kejriwal, in his petition to the court, said, "The ED should give assurance before the court that it will take no coercive action against me if I comply with the summons".
It is to be noted that the ED has issued nine summons to him in the excise case till now.
Earlier on Wednesday, during the hearing in his matter in Delhi HC, his lawyers stated that they have apprehension that ED will arrest him and he is ready to appear if he is given protection.
Although the High Court refused to stay the summons during Wednesday's hearing, it directed the ED to respond within two weeks and scheduled the case for April 22. Hours after the High Court refused to stay the summons, Kejriwal filed a new application in the same case, seeking "no coercive action" against him.
ED Summons Not To Investigate But To Arrest Kejriwal: AAP
Reacting to the development, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Gopal Rai told ANI, "It has been clear since the first day that ED is not bothered about questioning. Questioning has been going on for the last two years, raids have taken place at thousands of locations but they have no evidence to date."
"Repeated summons are being sent so that Arvind Kejriwal can be arrested in one way or the other. A plea has been moved before the Court for no coercive action. We were also willing to respect the law and join the investigation. But we approached the court for relief against BJP's intentions that it wants to fulfill through the ED," he added further.
Echoing similar sentiments, Delhi Minister Atishi said, "It is very clear that ED is no more an independent investigating agency. ED is a political tool of the BJP."
"Today, ED is being used to finish the Opposition. ED is not summoning Arvind Kejriwal to be a part of the investigation but to arrest him - so that he can't campaign in elections. Had arrest not been their goal, they could have said so before the court," she was quoted as saying by ANI.
All About The Wednesday Hearing:
At the hearing on Wednesday, the court questioned Kejriwal's lawyer about why he had not appeared before the central probe agency.
In response, senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Sindhvi stated that he should be protected from arrest and that no coercive action be taken against him.
The High Court also inquired whether Kejriwal would respond to the Enforcement Directorate's ninth summons, which directed him to appear on March 21 (Thursday).
The ninth summons was issued on Sunday, a day after a Delhi court granted the AAP supremo bail in two cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate for skipping multiple summonses.
The Enforcement Directorate had previously filed two complaints with the Rouse Avenue Court, seeking Kejriwal's prosecution for failing to appear for multiple summonses issued in the case.
The latest complaint is against the Chief Minister for failing to comply with summons numbers four through eight issued by a federal investigation agency under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The first complaint alleges Kejriwal failed to comply with the first three summonses issued in the case.
His name appears several times in the Enforcement Directorate's chargesheets related to the case.
Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh of the AAP, party communications director Vijay Nair, and some liquor businessmen have all been arrested so far.